My Christmas House, Part 2

 Well, a few days ago, I showed you the front room of our house decorated for Christmas.  Now it's time to show you our family room, my personal favorite!  The above photo was taken from the kitchen, which opens out to the family room.  Isn't it fun and colorful?

 

 The top of the sofa table got a little bit of a Christmas makeover.  Funny enough, everything here was a "left-over" at the end of my decorating.  The tin dollhouse had nowhere else to live, the bottlebrush trees were extras, the glass ornaments were missing a spot, and the burlap ribbon was the end of the roll from the Christmas tree!  But they all came together wonderfully right here!

 

 Here is the fireplace.  Notice I've conveniently cropped out the open shelving on either side- this part of the room is in the process of being remodeled- we're going to build shutter-style cabinet doors for the shelves, so that they will no longer be open.  Hopefully, this will be done over Christmas break...

 

 Every year I do something different on the mantle.  This year it's a little scene of Santa with his eight reindeer. 

 

 Here's Santa (he's one of my favorites- such a sweet face!).  I made a toy bag out of some velvet, and wrapped up some little presents to go in his sleigh.

 

 And here are the reindeer.  I've actually added Rudolph since these photos were taken.  The kids kept asking where he was, and I coincidentally saw a Rudolph Dream Pet at the antique store yesterday, so added him to the bunch!

 

 Underneath are hanging the "vintage" stockings I made a couple years ago.

 

 And on the other wall is my main display.  We purchased the wooden buffet this year, and it proved to be the perfect spot to add more Christmas décor!

 

 This tree is where the kids hung all their own ornaments, and I added some more colorful ones from my collection as well.

 

 Cute handmade ornaments mixed with ones that they receive each year to commemorate special events- it makes me happy to look at it!

 

 The top of the buffet was perfect for my vintage Santas and elf tree.  Oh my, it is such a cheery place to look at!

 

 Here's the elf tree in closer detail- can you believe I found that tiny little tree skirt?  From the thrift store, as well as the actual tree and most of the elves!

 

 I made these felt wall hangings this year.  I just love vintage felt Christmas items, and pick them up every time I see one out thrifting.  But often, they're just a little TOO vintage (dirty or grungy!), if you know what I mean.  So I carefully remove the main images and make them into something new!  I love the way these felt banners came out, and they were so simple to make!

 

 Big Santas on the tabletop, and tiny ones on the pink wall shelf.  I picked up the largest stuffed Santa for only $3 a few weeks ago- he's so lovable and sweet!

 

 Another smaller Santa with his own sleigh over on the left...

 

 Below is our little Christmas village.  Some years this comes out, and some years it stays packed, but the new buffet had the perfect little cubbies to create four different scenes, and the kids have had a lot of fun with it.

 

 The larger white stocking above and the felt Advent calendar were also projects this year.  In a future post, I'll show you how they started out, and how I transformed them.

 

 The Advent calendar is so wonderful!  I don't think it was a kit (as felt wall hangings often were), because it's not quite "perfect" enough, but I could be wrong.  Maybe it was a project from a magazine that some mother followed along... Regardless, it's wonderful!

 

 Each decoration lifts up to reveal a little picture cut out from a magazine.

 

 Cute little windows with decorations on each one.

 

 There's Santa under Day 15!

 

 And out in front of the calendar are just a couple more miscellaneous things- a pink tree with vintage beaded ornaments, and a modern light-up putz church.

 

Thanks so much for taking my holiday tour!  I have a feeling I'm going to be very sad to take down our decorations this year.  They make me so happy every time I look at them!

 

I'll be back soon to show you the transformation of some of the felt projects I've shown.  Hope you're all having a great holiday season so far!